For What It's Worth
Gaines St. Projects
Participation in traditional economies is difficult for people who live on the street. After working alongside a homeless community in Florida, I had the idea to open a store where the only currency accepted would be the one thing everyone has, a unique life experience.

For What It's Worth functioned as a neighborhood market providing a platform for open dialogue and community exchange. Participants were invited to trade oral stories, interviews, and attentive conversation for goods and services such as clothing, food, and haircuts.

Socially engaged works necessitate sensitivity, and over the course of the project we worked to developed genuine empathy and affecting relationships with members of the community. However, during our last week of operation, someone threw concrete through the window of our store and and stole the remaining food and clothing.